


Sleepless

by wanseupanataym



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Character Death, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Hospitals, Mental Instability, infectious disease
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:15:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23658976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanseupanataym/pseuds/wanseupanataym
Summary: Myoui Mina and Minatozaki Sana are both doctors, dealing with a virus outbreak for months. But due to the rising number of patients, they've been practically living in the hospital for weeks now. And for 3 consecutive days, both of them have been completely sleepless. Fueled by caffeine, they attend to their patients' needs 24/7. Only seeing each other during coffee breaks at the hospital's cafeteria a few times a day. Their small interactions are what Doctor Myoui has been looking forward the most.
Relationships: Minatozaki Sana/Myoui Mina
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	Sleepless

**[Mina’s POV]**

**264 consecutive hours.** Randy Gardner achieved the world record for longest sleep deprivation in 1964, when he was just 17, keeping awake for 11 days without the use of any stimulants.

 **This is already my fifth cup today.** I’m staring blankly at inside the paper cup, sighing one last time before downing what’s left with the dark brown liquid and throwing it to the nearest bin.

 **03:18AM** , the ticking hands on wristwatch told me that. And it only means one thing: **72 hours.** I’ve been awake for that long.

 **45 minutes.** It would take 45 minutes for the caffeine to reach its peak concentration in my blood stream, and it’s been 10 minutes—which means I still have thirty five. _Should I take a power nap?_ I did a few body stretches, cracking my back a few times.

 _Arraseo._ I guess I should do my rounds one last time before getting some rest in the doctors’ quarters. A fifteen-minute nap would probably be enough.

“ _Uisa-nim!_ (Doctor)” a loud cheery voice called from behind. I immediately turned and saw the brightest smile that immediately boosted my serotonin levels. Standing behind the cafeteria’s entrance, the hospital’s pink haired stunner is waving her hand at me.

“Oh. Doctor Minatozaki…” I gulped, heart starting to race, slightly lifting my hand to wave back. _I think that coffee is already starting to kick-in._

She started to quickly sprint towards me. My eyes widen.

“Y-yah. What are you doing? _Jamkkamanyo._ (Wait)” I took a few steps back and held out my hand. She paused and looked at me with a charming confused expression that made my heart pound even louder.

“ _Nani?_ ” she tiltled her head a little bit to the side, giggling. _Jinjja. This crazy girl._

“Sana-shi, we’re both Japanese. I know you fully understand what I meant.” I raised an eyebrow playfully.

She laughed, “I was just kidding. I know, I know. And I also know about the protocol. 6 feet distance from another person especially when you’re not wearing your full Personal Protective Equipment. Arraseo, arraseo. I was the one who wrote the Director’s speech, you know.” she made a funny facial expression, pouting her lips and rolling her eyes.

“Then why were you running towards me like that?” I asked, almost inaudibly.

She shrugged and pointed at me. “The coffee machine.”

I turned around and saw the tall vending machine I’ve been partially leaning on. I winced. _Right._

I kept my distance as she walked towards it. She took out some money in her purse, placed it inside the coin slot, and pressed the button for cappuccino. As the paper cup starts to get filled, she pulled out a bottle of sanitizer from her pocket and spritzed some on her hands. It made me smile.

A few seconds more and she’s already blowing at her steaming cup. “Ah. Hot hot hot.”

I shook my head and smiled at her ridiculousness. “You could have waited a few more seconds before picking it up.”

She flashed her widest grin. “Coffee is best drank when it could burn a hole through your tongue.”

I laughed, Sana is one of the brightest doctors in our hospital but she also says the weirdest nonsensical stuff. She’s one of our Internal Medicine physician specializing in Infectious Diseases, which means she’s one of the busiest doctors at the moment. Leading the hospital’s studies in Seroepedemiological investigations protocol as well as tracking the patients under the ICU facility, she’s probably awake longer than I have been, but still, she looks like she’s running on solar energy. She just keeps on going.

“ _Gwenchanha?_ (Are you okay?)” I asked her seriously.

She looked at me from behind her cup, the bright smile faded as her shoulders slumped a little. Slowly, she nodded her head.

“Gwenchanha. Things could be better, but I’m fine. I guess.” She smiled at me weakly before taking another sip of coffee. “Ahhh _jinjja._ Why is it so hot?”

As a neuro-surgeon, it felt like I am of little help solving the pandemic. I wanted to help as much as I could but it’s not my line of specialization. That’s why I devoted my hours at the emergency facility, assisting in gathering sequence data as well as treatment of the diagnosed patients with mild to moderate symptoms. Also volunteering my day-off in the testing facility, anything I could do to help.

“How about you? _Gwenchanha?_ ” Sana is staring at me with a sincere look of worry in her eyes.

“You shouldn’t worry about me, you already have too much on your plate.”

“What a crazy thing to say,” she scoffed, “of course I’m always worried about you.”

“Ya.” I raised an eyebrow, trying not to smile.

“Are you trying to make my heart flutter?” I squinted at her.

Sana’s lips curved up and she started wiggling her eyebrows, “That’s the goal. It worked didn’t it?”

“My heart is already racing but I’m not sure if it’s because of you or the caffeine.” I shrugged nonchalantly, trying my best not to give off any emotion.

She rolled her eyes, “Aish. Such a tease. Of course it’s the first one. I even made my heart flutter, yours should, too.”

I wasn’t able to hold back my laughter. “Arraseo, you made my heart skipped a beat.”

She looked satisfied with herself as she threw her empty cup in the bin behind her.

“ _Welke yeppeuseyo?_ (Why are you so pretty?)” She muttered as our eyes interlocked. I could feel my ears starting to turn red. “I'm really tempted to hug you right now.”

That comment made my heart raise to 140 BPM.

We stared at each other, eyes filled with a weird mixture of warmth and melancholy.

**[Sana’s POV]**

The Infectious Disease Centre’s Intensive Care Facility has to be one of the hospital’s grimmest place at the moment, with nothing but the smell of Chlorine, Isopropanol, and misery mid-air.

I stepped out of the sanitation chamber and went straight to the changing room. One by one, I carefully wore all the necessary personal protective equipment. I was about to put on my gloves when my phone buzzed from my gown’s pocket. I pulled it out and immediately opened the message. It’s a videoclip from Mina.

_The camera is a little too close to her face, Mina flashed her gummy smile at the lenses, “Yeoboseo? Can you hear me?”_

_She must’ve realized this and extended her hand a little farther, to perfectly frame her face and upper torso. She waved at the camera again. “I know I can’t really give you a hug right now, but I’ll see you later, arraseo? Coffee in six hours? Hang in there. Take care.” suddenly she held the phone to her chest and for a brief moment, all Sana could see is Mina’s white uniform. “Airhug!”_

_She blew the camera a kiss, “Hwaiting, honey!” another bright smile before turning the camera off._

“Darling, arigato.” I stared at my phone screen and even just for a few seconds, my mood was lifted. A few seconds until…

**"Room 27! Code blue at room 27!"**

I’m running with the two nurses as I fixed the face shield over my mask and goggles and tied the leather apron over the coverall I’m wearing. The Intensive care facility for Infectious Diseases are built differently from the rest of the hospital. From the corridor, we first have to enter the Anteroom. It’s an airlock lobby that is attached to the Isolation chamber, a controlled area that helps prevent the contaminated air from exiting the negative pressure zone.

We entered room 27’s anteroom and waited until the doors are fully closed behind us before swinging the doors open to the isolation room. As soon as it did, we immediately saw the man’s intubated body jolting out of the bed. He’s struggling; fighting the nurse and the doctor that were already there trying to stop the blood that was brimming in his mouth, still rippling, eyes wide in terror. The two other nurses I'm with came to help them, one ran pass them and seized the man’s head with both hands and jerked hard, slanting him forcibly to side. The man vomited again, spraying blood all over the instruments and over the nurse’s uniform. It was like watching a silent movie, it was all animated but I can’t hear a single noise. His eyes were trembling, I could feel his pain, and suddenly my body was in auto-pilot. I ran inside the room, forcing myself to the space between the two nurses.

 **“Suction!”** it feels like my words are being drowned by the noise from the machines. I pointed at the hose attached on the wall and a nurse snatched the tube, as all the other nurses struggled to keep the frail man breathing. I lifted his chin, blood continues to sputter out of his mouth. _This isn’t going to work._ I jumped over the bed, with my body over the man, thrusting my fingers in the patient’s mouth, pulling out his tongue out. One of the nurses handed the suction line to me while she pumped the other end; I shoved the tube to the face and started sucking out the mouth and nose. Red blood ran up the tubes. The man struggled for breath, coughing, he’s growing weaker by the second. His body stopped moving violently and his bloodshot eyes were staring blankly at me.

I tried to push the cord harder. He was having a cardiac arrest.

 **“Paddles! Get the paddles!”** I yelled at the top of my lungs.

From the back of the room one of the resident doctors got his way through, with all the people jumbled all over the young man, he was holding the paddles with his extended arms while the other pulled the cord in his mouth. _Clear,_ the doctor pushed down the paddles. His body jolted the table. Before the paddles touched his body, the man glanced at my direction, wide brown eyes trembling, staring directly at me. The fear turned to emptiness as the frantic beeping was replaced by a long steady monotonous sound.

Slowly I stepped away, continued with the necessary procedures before taking a few steps back. My colleagues and I formed two lines at both sides of the bed. Holding back the tears, I tried to speak clearly **“Patient ID I-0378, time of death 04:27H.”**


End file.
